


Summer 8: Kakashi x Reader

by Lily1856



Series: Summers between Us [1]
Category: Naruto
Genre: Angst, Eventual Romance, F/M, Flirting, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Mutual Pining, Not Actually Unrequited Love, Reader-Insert, Romance, Slow Burn, Unrequited Love
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-02-23
Updated: 2020-06-02
Packaged: 2021-02-27 22:07:38
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 6,540
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22693033
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lily1856/pseuds/Lily1856
Summary: You finally find peace and freedom to enjoy the simple pleasures of life, such as Jasmine tea and Dango but what happens when your kind godmother decides to take you back, to your past, matchmaking you with a silver-haired dog as an ex Bingo-nin, well... you get in trouble and lots of it.
Relationships: Hatake Kakashi/Reader, Hyuuga Hinata/Uzumaki Naruto, Sarutobi Asuma/Yuuhi Kurenai
Series: Summers between Us [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1679509
Comments: 16
Kudos: 72





	1. Troubles Start

"That's all for today! Remember, on Monday you’ll learn about Ninjutsu. Practice your signs and have a nice weekend!" You said with a smile to the small group. "Hai!!! Have a nice weekend (y/n) sensei!", they answered, leaving the classroom while waving at you. You left the classroom and eventually the small academy of Yugakure, taking in the sights of the hot springs and enjoying the milling tourists in the warm afternoon. You started towards the grocery, to pick out ingredients for dinner as you think of the bare fridge you had at home. 

After paying for the food, you start walking home, enjoying the blue skies and a peek of the pink sunset. It has been three years since you moved to Yugakure and despite its small size, it had a unique charm. The people were always nice, and the weather was just perfect, plus in the end; you really enjoy the job you currently have. 

You step onto the smooth, worn down path to your house at the edge of the evergreen forest. Stepping up to the polished wooden porch, you sense a warm friendly and orange aura behind your door, not surprised, you opened the door, moving away from the opening as something large came barreling at the empty space. You always appreciated being a sensory ninja and having quick reflexes in these moments.

The person turned around with a pout.

“Awww, why is it so hard to get you?”, it was Yuko, your best friend, who lunged out the door to very horribly trap you in a hug. 

You laugh at her pout, "Yuko! What are you doing here? I thought you were on a mission?"

"I was. But I finished the mission early so I came here straight away!", she said happily, gesturing to your house.

You couldn’t help but smile at the endearing actions of your friend, "Come back inside, you must be hungry." 

"I’m starving! The food was horrible!" she said with a laugh while entering and moving to the kitchen. 

Yuko, your best friend, was the first person to accept you when you arrived in Yugakure to stay. She was three years younger than you at 20 years, yet she had the energy of a 13-year-old. Despite her overly energetic personality, she was just as wise and mature as you, which was probably why you clicked with her when you first met each other in your now, favourite restaurant. Her infectious joy always managed to bring light into your day and change your perspective on the world. 

Yuko went straight to making tea and preparing the table while you pulled out the ingredients for dinner. She was comfortable and knew your house like the back of her hand after many long hours of sleeping over and helping you with chores. The bubbly girl grew to take up a good portion of your heart as well as your house, with a sleepover planned every 5 days she practically lived there with you. She set up the table and walked over to the second chopping board you pulled out.

“Want to help? The food will get done quicker~” you smiled as you peeled the potatoes, she could never say no to getting food faster. 

“Ugh, you know I always say yes.” She was grumbling but her hands had quickly gone to work, chopping up the peeled potatoes and sliding the pieces into the soup.

As you both worked in moderate silence, focusing on the small tasks to make chicken noodle soup, you thought about how nice it was to have her with you especially when you lived a while away from the village, almost outside of the outskirts of it. You imagined what it would be like to have a younger sister like her and looking after her in this way, teaching her how to cook, sew, fight and look out for herself. The thought makes you smile as it seemed as though she was already a sister to you, one that was exactly how you’d want a little sister to be. 

Humming a lullaby softly as you worked, she joined in making you smile while watching the noodles cook. When the food was ready, you two went to the dining room, where you both sat down to enjoy the meal. 

"Reader san...", she starts.

"Yes?" You asked, your gaze lingering on your bowl of noodles. 

"Have you ever considered having your own team?" 

"What?" You asked startled, now giving her your full attention. 

"Yeah, you know…”, she waves her hands in the air to emphasize the point you couldn’t see, “like having a group of three students and as their sensei, you go with them on missions and train them to be ninja and stuff." 

"I’m not too sure about going on missions with kids… but why do you ask that?”

"Well…" she leans in, voice low, "rumour says that the Daimyo is going to promote you and give you a group of your own."

"What? But that will be dangerous…", you swirl the noodles in your soup, absentmindedly chewing your bottom lip in worry.

"Why not? You're a skilled kunoichi and a great sensei!" 

"Y-Yeah…”, you answered nervously, “but you know how clumsy I am, and I can’t risk a kid's lives.", your mind involuntarily flashes back to him… your teammate. 

"But the kids love you!!!" 

"I know and I love them too which is why I don't think it will be a good idea..." 

She looks at you with a small frown, realising she must’ve pushed you a bit too far, deciding to change the topic, "Well...okay... It’s just a rumour so don't worry too much about it!"

You hoped that the Daimyo wouldn’t give you the role of sensei of your own team, you were barely handling a few troublesome students in your class of 12 when you’re just teaching, it was just too much...

"Anyway. I was planning on going with you to karaoke tomorrow with the girls!" Yuko said, happily. snapping you out of your brooding.

“Huh? Uh Okay? What time?” confused, you barely managed to catch the last bits of her sentence, successfully responding, but also agreeing to something your future self would regret. 

"Yessss!” She did a fist pump into the air grinning from ear to ear. “We’ll pick you up at 7 pm, is that ok?" 

"Okay," you said with a wary smile, you knew that tomorrow was going to be hell.

After talking about plans for tomorrow, Yuko left to her place as she had just returned from a mission and did not have her things for a sleepover, and you decided to take a shower, changing into a comfortable silk nightgown. The warm water relaxed you, so you decided to wind down for the day and read one of your favourite books; stashed in your large mahogany bookcase.

Grasping the familiar red cover, you made a cup of jasmine tea and walked to your porch, sitting in your favourite soft cushiony chair with a blanket on your lap and steaming tea beside you on a small glass table. You enjoyed the peaceful light of the moon in the sky and the cool wind that gently caressed your face. 

After an hour of reading in the moonlight and from the light of your window, you decided to close the book and go inside. You realised that It was almost midnight and you’ve been engrossed in your book for a good 2 hours. Yawning and stretching you realised how tired you were after a day of work, shopping and hanging out with Yuko for a bit before she went home. She always took up a lot of your energy with how cheery she always was. You placed your book back where it belongs and went to the kitchen to wash the cup, leaving it in the dish rack to dry.

Later, you go to the bathroom and ready yourself for bed, lethargically going through the motions. Flopping into your soft cool bed, you let out a sigh, drifting to sleep covered by your large duvet. That was your daily routine for the last three years. Sometimes you wondered if you needed some change, but then, you remember everything you have now, it wasn't much, but it was something. 

In the early morning, you woke up alert, to a set of knocks on your door, alarms went off in your head and you closed your eyes to sense the intentions and whereabouts of your visitors. No one was supposed to meet you this early in the morning and your house was quite a while away from the centre of the village. Three burning flames of chakra, two were dark blue and the third was… sparkling black-silver. So, there were three people in front of your house, strong chakra means ninja, and the flames were mostly curious, luckily they didn’t feel threatening, so you cautiously snuck to the door. Still in your nightgown, you peered through the peephole and saw three men wearing attire that you immediately recognized, they were Konoha ANBU. The man with the darkest aura had silver hair and a dog mask, the other two were a bear and a hawk.

You stepped back from the door, raking your mind through all the possibilities of what you could have done in the past years to warrant a visit from ANBU. Another knock was made, startling you out of your thoughts.

"(Y/n) we know you're there, please open the door. We're messengers from Tsunade-sama", a deep, smooth voice said; you guessed it was the silver-haired man in front.


	2. Haunting

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You definitely made an interesting impression on the little group and looks like a certain silver-haired ninja is stalking you? But don't let it bother you because you'll get very close very soon.

“Tsunade? What does the Hokage want from me?” you thought, chewing your lip in worry. 

Another knock and you knew that the three ANBU were not going to leave until you opened the door. So, still feeling cautious, you fill your hands with suppressed chakra, you slowly open your door. 

"Good mor...ning, (Y/n). Tsunade-sama sent us to give you an important letter." Said the silver ANBU, handing you a white envelope sealed with the sign of the Konoha Hokage. Did he stutter? Your eyes wandered to the smooth paper in your hands. 

Turning to the others the silver ANBU said: “You both can head back, I will be enough., and with that, the two ANBU ninjas phased away in front of your eyes, their chakra appearing far away in the forest near your house. 

"What does she want?" You asked, hesitantly, gazing at his dog mask as he turned back around. 

"I don’t know. However, I will be around here until you have your answer to the letter. Please write down your answer to the Hokage as soon as possible. I will return when you have a reply." The dog-masked man said, and without letting you ask some more questions he phased away, his dark aura standing out against the usual light blues and greys of the village. 

You close the door and walk into your kitchen, rifling through your drawers for a letter opener to read the letter from Tsunade-sama. Before you opened it, you examined the envelope carefully noticing a faint purple aura, reminding you of the warm boisterous woman you knew as a child, her stark purple etched into your mind. It seems to be an authentic letter from Tsunade-sama, so your worries subside and you cut open the letter to see what she sent the three ANBU ninjas for.

‘Dear (Y/n),

There are some issues that I need to discuss with you. I was designated as your godmother before you were born, and I promised your parents to take care of you should anything happen to them. However, I wasn't around when they had disappeared, and for that I am sorry. Now that I can watch over you, please, return to Konoha. I am aware that your days as a bounty hunter are gone, and you have a new life, teaching children, all of that would make your parents proud of you. But unknown dangers are targeting you. I cannot allow anything to happen to you, but you are a distance away from Konoha which makes things difficult. That is why I propose that you leave Yugakure and return to live in Konoha. Here anything you require I will provide you. However, you do not need to answer immediately as I know how hard it is to leave your new life behind, so my ANBU will wait in your village until you have made up your mind. I hope you can consider my offer. 

Tsunade’

Your eyes filled with tears, the empty ache in your chest a reminder of your dead parents and the years of pain after it, without any saving grace. Three years earlier, you made the decision to leave your bounty hunter life behind when the only person you cared for, the man you loved was targeted and murdered in front of your eyes.

Your throat burned, you remembered the feeling of the hot blood pooling in your lap as his glassy eyes stared into the stars. A choked cry left your lips as hot tears welled up, threatening to fall, your legs shook, unable to hold your body up any further and you crumpled to the floor, the traumatic pain still searing through your mind. 

Despite getting revenge, there was nothing you could do to bring him back to your side. So you, a person who couldn’t live without someone to rely on and never wanted another person you cared for to be targeted especially after the pain from losing him, decided to retire from hunting as an assassin. 

Your choice to become an assassin came when you were 10 years old, on your birthday, where you witnessed the death of your parents. Your father used to be the Daimyo of the Land of Fire and your mother was a skilled medical shinobi from Konoha. It was a forbidden relationship, between master and ninja, but they made it work and you finally had your dad around you for the first time at the age of 6. You were born in the hidden leaf village, but when you were 6, your family and you moved to Kirigakure, giving up the life you had to live for family, there you had no friends and barely anyone to talk to but you were content. 

Your life in that village wasn't very different from the one you had in Konoha and you adapted quickly to the quiet and misty village. But as always, everything ended with the death of your loved ones. Instead of becoming a missing-nin, and fleeing Kirigakure, the Mizukage at that time, proposed that you, a small, barely trained 10-year-old, go hunt the people who killed your family and in exchange, you would gain revenge as well as a large reward for their heads. 

You were angry, you were mad, your whole life, everything you’ve worked for, everything you’ve been taught, to be kind and to take care of those you loved, nothing mattered anymore, the world was against you, what did you do to deserve this? The only thing in your head was anger, furious at the ones that had ruined your world you committed to the hunt, leaving behind the small family you had for 7 years. 

You threw yourself into the dark underworld without thinking twice and soon you were recognized in Kirigakure as the Demon Hunter. When you were 14 you were stuck, buried, in the core of the underworld, featured as a notorious killer in every bingo book of the five great nations. 

At 17, the Mizukage introduced you Sarazawa Kaiya, a man three years older than you, as your new partner. Quickly you became friends within the same profession, becoming each other’s saving grace in the cold-blooded job. It was inevitable really when the warmth of his skin brushing your shoulder when bandaging you had you giddy and shy in his presence, his constant blush when he saw your skin. Yet the sweet man still took his time to gently clean the wounds and worrying for you every scar you earned from battle. 

It was inevitable, you were both pushed into battles where one or the other could die, both of you had to look out for and care for each other so that neither would die. It was only a win-win situation if you looked after your teammate and yet, you still developed feelings for him. You knew that he was the best stealth ninja in all of the nations combined, and deadly in assassinations, but with every moment you shared, the ways his eyes melted at the sight of your rare smiles, he softened your heart.

It was dangerous, and you knew that every mission, one of you could never return but after a year of realising your love and pining after each other, you gave in. The world was warmer and every tense fight would be followed with care and relief in surviving another day to be together. However, once again the day he kneeled down, holding a promise ring… you remember the warmth in his eyes that day. 

You had let your guard down as it was a month since your last mission, it was a mistake you had regretted every day and because of you, he was killed. It was an experience that left you inconsolable, broken and distraught, ending your life as an assassin as you murdered everyone in your way no matter the person to freedom. With the help of the Mizukage and the techniques you had inherited from Sara, you left Kirigakure without any problem, completely wiping your existence there in one night. All the evidence of you in Kirigakure was burned, so you could start a new life. No one had heard of you ever again, the only traces being the bingo books with your demon hunter information, your name never leaked outside the ears of Daimyos and Kages. 

After months of travelling in solitude, you fell in love with a small quiet nice village; that's when you decided to settle there as a sensei at the local ninja academy. With your qualifications, it was easy enough to infiltrate and stay there for a long time. Everything was now perfect in your calm life with a low profile, until your past came to haunt you again. Just when you had finally buried everything from before so long ago, it was dug up from the hole in your heart.

A cool wisp of wind brushed your bare form, waking you from your old memories. That’s when you noticed the presence of a silver flame that appeared 4 trees away from the small house, you quickly cleared your throat blinking the tears away as much as you could, hoping that the ninja didn’t get to observe you while you were stuck in the past. 

A sigh leaves your lips, you knew you couldn’t let it get to you, after all, you had a new life, as well as a date today... You had to get ready soon, the world knows that you would need all the help you could get, as it always resulted in a hangover when everyone was tossed together with alcohol. So you busied yourself, going to your bathroom for a quick morning shower to wake yourself up, pulling on simple day clothes and making a small breakfast to energise you for the day. Hoping that maybe it'll get better...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We get more background to flesh out our reader here, you can interpret it in any way you wish or think up more things but I like the idea of a hurt and healing reader who just needs more love.  
> Please comment about any inconsistencies and issues, it'll help me out a lot even if I try to edit every chapter 5 times.  
> And can anyone see the double notes? Maybe it's a glitch but I have no idea how to fix it...
> 
> -Lil56


	3. Cute Meet?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Food is delicious!

A tumbling ball of dust ran towards you, just short of the one dust cloud there were many smaller ones, you grin realising that it was your cute little students barrelling around town probably playing a silly game of tag. You start raising your hand to wave at them but stop mid-sentence when you had to jump out of the way from the surprisingly large crowd. Landing on a rooftop, basket still in hand you sigh, feeling lucky that it was still empty as you hadn’t set out for the things you needed yet. 

Raising your head up from looking at the cloud of students paving a path in the busy street, your eyes catch onto the familiar red and white mask looking at you. The seemingly empty stare made goosebumps crawl up your back, it reminded you of the cold stares of murderers but as you closed your eyes to get it out of your mind, a warm flame flickered calmly towards you. Your shoulders tensed as you felt the mellow silver curiously flitting about in his owner’s body. Relief filled your lungs and you let out a soft huff, he was harmless and you should try to remember that, but it was helpful nonetheless to know how the masked ninja was feeling without him knowing.

Still feeling nervous at the stillness of your silent companion, you open one eye, then the other, seeing his hand raised up in a… very awkward wave? The corners of your lips lift at the silliness of the situation, an ANBU ninja was waving at you very stiffly, from a rooftop across from your rooftop because you two met gazes. Oh wow. You chuckle lightly covering your mouth with your hand, this ANBU ninja was amazingly awkward for his strict, strong and solid demeanour from this morning. 

Feeling friendlier, you hesitantly decide to wave back at him, a small smile on your face as you did so. He perked up and nodded his head at you, his hair shining in the morning sun as if it was real silver… And the thought of calling him ‘Gin’ (silver) as a nickname, crossed your mind. You blinked, and all of a sudden he was gone from your sight, huh, he always seems to leave without warning. Letting out a sigh, you remind yourself that he’s just waiting for the reply, a reply that you didn’t know how to write. You jumped down, landing lightly on the tips of your feet before heading towards the markets as you still had a lot of things to do.

Your mind wandered, contemplating Tsunade’s offer as you bathed in the fresh air outside. It was a beautiful weekend, and the warm blues and greys of the people soothed your soul, despite ‘Gin’ flitting around the streets. You had always appreciated how living people’s flames were always there… After the solitude, you came to realise how much you preferred humans and settled in the cosy village. 

You felt lazy under the warm sun so you opted for takeout at several of your favourite ‘hungover’ places, stocking up on hangover food to save yourself later tonight. Pacing around the village, you picked up some things that caught your eye, for Yuko who would surely crash over at your place after the night out with everyone. 

Your stomach grumbled in protest as you stepped towards a small antique store you frequented for accessories, and you stilled, lightly covering your mouth searching your peripheral vision for any indication of laughter, hoping no one had heard. Even if it was a busy street in the middle of the day you still felt embarrassed for forgetting to eat even a small snack while you walked. Looks like your stomach thought it was lunchtime and your mouth agreed; feeling dry after walking for so long without water as you constantly got distracted by things you thought you would need in one way or another.

So, for lunch, you decided to eat out at a restaurant and preferably one selling jasmine tea, so you could bask in the calming scent. Wandering the streets, you find the cool silver chakra at a small restaurant you knew, one that had the exact tea you were yearning for. Despite feeling self-conscious you just couldn’t give up good food just because of an awkward run-in with the ANBU. You walked in and at once noticed the dog-masked man in a far corner, the white porcelain stark in contrast against the cosy brown interior. 

Breaking your gaze away, you slid into a small booth for two, setting your items down and ordered a plate of dumplings with a pot of tea from a kind young woman you knew as Fuuko. A childhood melody flickered in your mind as you turned to watch the people milling about and enjoying the food, from your little nook.

You absentmindedly hummed the familiar tune, stopping shortly after feeling eyes on your back. You turned around, staring behind you at the head of silver locks, his mask turned away. You huff a little, wondering why he was staring, but your eyes are drawn to a toned bicep with the infamous red tattoo. He was weird but he was probably just observing you like the trained ninja he is. Your eyes trail along his toned bicep up to the black of a mask? 

You chuckle quietly, smiling to yourself about how silly it was to have a mask on, under another mask and gazed at the little skin that was exposed to you, tracing it up to his silver hair that shone even in the shade. Your eyes now trailed downwards, taking note of the daunting red, white, dog mask and the armour covering his physique, wondering whether you would be able to beat him in a match. The mask shifts to face you… Your face flushes, you’ve been doing exactly what you called the Anbu weird for! You couldn’t believe how you got so lost in observing a person’s body and kicked yourself in your head for being an idiot. It was unbelievably embarrassing and your face was still as burning when you lowered your head, hiding from the dark gaze, to stare at the hazel grainy table. 

Fuuko soon came around to give the Anbu a bowl of ramen and your tea. You gratefully thanked her for the drink, your nerves were shot from feeling so antsy under his stare and it made your stomach growl in protest, butterflies making you sick with anxiety. You quickly but carefully poured the hot tea into a cup and blew on it, you really needed to calm down. Maybe it was because you haven’t been in the presence of ANBU ninja for so long but your instincts were yelling at you to run, despite his aura being calm, if not curious whenever you felt his chakra. The nervous energy in your system left as soon as you inhaled the warm flowery scent and took a sip, the soft heat of the tea spread throughout your chest calming your heart and warming your body. You could feel the silver stare at your back but it didn’t bother you anymore as you enjoyed what, in your opinion was the best tea.

Finally, your dumplings came and you thanked her again, quickly digging into the food before you started to starve. You also ordered a plate of Dango in the middle of finishing your dumplings to round out the meal. Calmly enjoying your now warm tea, you waited for the Dango, stomach happy with the delicious food you consumed, closing your eyes to rest and feel the auras around you. Wondering about the time, you open your eyes to look at the clock near the back, but instead, you witness a certain Anbu coming your way. 

Panic rises in your mind, you pray with all your heart that, he was only heading for the exit… closing your eyes you pray over and over for the impossible. He had walked straight to you in pure silence, his footsteps unheard of, his aura giving him away. He sat down in front of you silently and you opened your eyes to see him pouring a cup of tea. Sighing softly, you gave up the thought of escape, taking a sip of your own tea, upset that he rudely stole the amazing tea you paid for.

Your mind calmed, and rationally, you decided to break the silence. "Hi? If you're asking for my reply I haven't got it yet. Sorry." You quickly said, hoping to end the awkward tension between you and the masked man as you unconsciously leaned back into your seat away from him, crossing your arms and legs. 

"It's okay, I can wait." his smooth voice melted in your ears, sounding oddly intimate within the close quarters. Feeling trapped and a bit unsettled with the ANBU so close to you, you glanced at the clock wondering when the dango would be here as the mask scanned your face. Chewing on your bottom lip, you contemplate what to do. It was suffocatingly awkward, the interactions earlier were not as close, or as cramped in the small space as you were both in now. Your body was closed in, with his body blocking your way to freedom, so you wait in silence for Fuuko to return with your dango. Bringing your cup of tea close to you, as far as you could get away from him, you noticed that he never drank any of the tea he poured out?

Still staring at you, as if he knew what you were thinking, he slowly pushed up the porcelain mask… 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm honestly not sure how to continue this but I plan on putting some major events from Shippuden into the story. look forward to more teasing!!


	4. Awkward...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Somehow, you keep on bumping into him...

As expected, it revealed the black mouth cover under his mask. You stare in anticipation at his every movement… Was he going to show you what was behind the mask? No. No, he wasn’t.

At least not all of it. He pulled down the black mouth mask, revealing a strip of smooth untouched white skin, but your gaze was ripped away from his face as Fuuko’s presence got closer. 

“Here’s your dango Reader-san!” She placed the plate of four dango skewers in front of you, her eyes shifting to the now replaced mask with yours. You narrowed your eyes spotting the empty cup in his hand, he’d already drank all of the tea… and you saw nothing. 

Fuuko perked up seeing a man beside you and not so subtly winked in your direction, “Did you need more tea for two?”, she asked with a cheeky smile. Your face warmed at her insinuating tone, knowing that gossip about your “new man” would get around the small village in a heartbeat after this interaction. 

Clearing the knot in your throat, you gave her a wry smile, hoping that the message in your mind got through to her. Her smile dropped slightly at the grimace on your face so, quickly she mumbled that she’d fetch more tea, stepping away from the little booth. Staring in the direction she’d left, you let out a small sigh. You wondered how she didn’t notice the ninja gear on the man in front of you, better yet, she didn’t even notice how a stark white mask ominously covered his face! 

You shifted back to face the silence, and to your surprise, he was holding a stick of dango towards you, as if it was a peace offering. You glanced suspiciously between the outstretched dango and his stony mask. He was offering your own meal to you, but the emotions behind the gesture were meaningful right? Your hand jerks towards grabbing the dango from his hand, but you pause mid-reach and close your eyes, glimpsing his worried and shy feelings, before reaching for a stick and brushing your hand against his gloves as you plucked the dango from his grasp.

So it was a peace offering, you stare at the colourful sweets now in your hand and you savour it bite by bite, almost forgetting the stranger in front of you for the sweet, melty, chewy, nostalgic taste of perfect dango. You were in heaven, dango could always pick up your day, no matter when you had it or where you had it. It was deliciously sweet. Smiling in bliss you finish one stick and grab another one, stopping when your eyes met the hollow ones of the mask. He hadn’t grabbed any of your dango surprisingly, so he was just sitting silently in front of you. 

Feeling sorry for him for not being able to do anything you move to offer him a stick of dango. Your keen observation of him let you notice how he flinched lightly when your hand came near him, raising his hands slightly as if in surrender. Wondering how you could be so threatening to an ANBU ninja for him to react in that way when you merely offered dango, you remembered how you were supposed to be a known killer to special forces like the ANBU. 

Your shoulders fall and you realised how tense you were in the presence of this man. Subconsciously your body was telling you to be careful, but he was harmless and surprisingly easy to scare. A hand finally reaches out for the stick and the thick material brushes against your hand again, it was quite smooth but it felt heavy and too warm to wear. 

You feel a static tension filling the air when you finally break your gaze away from his hand. Moving to grab another dango, making sure to stare at the table as you ate slowly, the peace offering seemed to lighten up the atmosphere around you, making you feel better. When you were finished, the soft bustling noise of the emptying restaurant as the lunchtime rush was coming to a close settled into the din. 

Finishing your sweets, your eyes swept across to your “friend”, deciding that the last lonely stick of dango belonged to the stranger keeping you company. You push the plate so that it sat right in front of his arm laying on the table and watch him shifting his eyes between your face, the unfinished sweets in his hand and the plate with more sweets. Stifling a smile at the unabashed wonder in his actions, you stand, grabbing your basket so that you can leave. 

He was still looking back and forth between your standing figure and the sweets, awkwardly you wondered how to say you were leaving. Do you say goodbye? Do you shake hands? Do you wave? Do you bow? He was an admirable ANBU ninja after all. Chewing your lip in frustration, you give a small bow of acknowledgement and turn on your heel, escaping from the warm chill of your abrupt exit. Burning embarrassment settled in your cheeks, tinting your ears a light pink. You didn't know why you even cared about how you acted in front of that man, regretting how you bowed and wishing that you could redo the escape again. 

At least you're out of there now you supposed, letting out a sigh of relief as you cupped your face with clammy hands, finding the heat in your ears stifling. How you could let an insignificant encounter, especially with a dangerous ANBU, fluster you to the point of warming your ears, you did not know, but, you were grateful that you didn't have to see him for a while. Your feet wandered mindlessly as you reanalysed the regretful encounter, coming to the conclusion that, your awkward departure would become one of those regrets that would haunt you in the dark of the night as one of the most embarrassing moments in your life. 

The basket hanging in the crook of your arm felt heavier than before, looking down at the contents quickly you realised you bought a lot more than you intended to. Scanning the area around you, greenery caught your eye. Apparently you had wandered near the forest again as the trees towered over a small grass play park, empty except for a pair of swings. Seeing that the play park was near the edge of the village you understood why the children you adored were not here and running around playing tag in the middle of the streets instead. Pulling off your sandals you stepped onto the glossy grass, tickling your toes and walk over to the tree line, searching for the perfect spot to consider your life choices and what to do. 

Discovering a perfect human-sized patch of clean grass in the shade of the trees, you immediately dropped your sandals, placing the basket beside it and sit down, closing your eyes. The bustling colours of the village, including a certain silver flame, stayed far enough from your spot in the trees. You could finally relax, knowing that no one would know that you were here. Taking a deep breath you flopped back into the grass, covering your face with both hands and staring at the filtered light escaping your fingers. Your body loosened as you placed your hands on your stomach, letting go of the breath you held and just relaxing in the pleasantly cool shade.

It’s been three years, three years since you’ve reached where you were now, three years of adapting to human life, of allowing yourself to feel emotions other than anger, of slowly allowing yourself to have someone dear to your heart again. Would returning to Konoha take that all away? Would it be like leaving those three years you worked hard for in the dust, locked away in a small cabinet in the back of your mind? You hoped not, you hoped that nothing could take away this peace you finally feel. Now that your life in the calm village was threatened, the realisation that you wouldn’t want to leave the village behind. But, it was Tsunade, Tsunade was asking you to come home… Would Konoha be home? Isn't what you have now home? Even if Tsunade is the only living relative you know? 

Groaning in frustration and digging the palm of your hands into your eyes, you turned to lie on your side. Your hair now messily splayed in the strands of green. Everything was so unfamiliar and weird after you received the letter and it hasn't even been a full day yet. Your face scrunched up in anger at the abrupt intrusion of the letter. You have friends. You have students. You have a house. You have Yuko… You just couldn't see yourself leaving your new home and especially not for a village you know nothing about. You didn't know how it looked, where things were, who people are unless you counted Tsunade, a person you could barely recount from broken childhood memories. The only thing you were sure of about her was her name and the unique purple aura. 

You decided then and there that you would stay. You would tell the silver-headed man that nothing could stop you from remaining where you were. Clenching your hands into fists, you turn so that your back is flat on the ground, eyes staring into the leaves and face now calm. One deep breath in and… "I HAVE A HOME!!!" You yelled into the sky, hands flying and spreading open in joy, a smile growing on your face. You have a home. And, it only took a letter from your past to realise that fact.

Sighing with relief you lay your hands beside you, you'd finally gotten over this worrying crisis. Your eyes slowly shut in the cooling shade and the void of black overcomes your senses allowing you to observe your surroundings. You flinch, sitting up, eyes flying open, hands jumping to your hidden kunai.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey dear readers! I've been dead during quarantine and honestly, I was mostly just lazy not gonna lie, I didn't have the motivation to do anything, nothing at all. The world also seemed to be piling more and more work on me for no reason? I mean where I am there is no cancelling school, we just rollllllllllll.  
> Anyways, I've got motivation!! It just makes me excited to see how the reader is going to grow up and change but I never really took into account the other characters e.g. Yuko until a certain sweet commenter said some things!  
> Thanks for waiting guys and we shall get back into the swing of things as the ideas keep flowing and once again criticism welcome!
> 
> -Lil56

**Author's Note:**

> I'm not really sure how I'll continue this but I'll figure it out along the way...  
> And any inconsistencies or helpful comments would be great!
> 
> -Lil56


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